Chopper's Captain
by RebelzHeart
Summary: Chopper favored Luffy, so he knew that Luffy was precious, but what about himself? Oneshot.
**A/N:** Everyone's OOC and wonky and... just awful. Sorry. But this was written for **AaliyaIronHeart**... despite it's awfulness...

"Chopper?" Luffy's light voice poked through Chopper's thoughts as he popped onto the crow's nest. "Why are you up here?"

"I have duty." Chopper reminded him.

"Ooh." Luffy made a face. "Go to sleep. I'm awake anyways."

Chopper frowned. "You need to get some sleep. After that big fight, you have to get better!"

Luffy cocked his head to the side in confusion before a frown that mirrored Chopper's tugged at the edges of his lips. "Why wouldn't you need to get better, then?" He asked. "You were fighting too!"

"Because… because…" A lump grew in Chopper's throat. _Because I'm less important than you and…_

Chopper favored Luffy.

Maybe it was because Chopper was a monster.

He always had been, and he probably always would be. He couldn't fit in anywhere—nowhere, that was, except on Luffy's crew. Luffy had shown him that being a monster was something acceptable—something wonderful, even, because it meant that you had the strength to protect your nakama.

Chopper favoring Luffy was perhaps more obvious than, say, Sanji's, but it was less obvious than someone like Zoro's (because despite Zoro being gruff around Luffy, _everyone_ —even marines—knew that Luffy would be the only man that Zoro would ever follow).

At first, he had always wanted to treat Luffy's wounds first, excusing it with the fact that Luffy was not only the captain but also the strongest so he had to be able to protect them if something suddenly came up.

But after a while, he had realized that it was insulting to Luffy, his strength and the loyalty that Luffy showed to all his nakama if Luffy was treated first. He had come to realize that to someone like Luffy, it was much more painful to see his nakama hurt than himself.

So Chopper tried making a point of curing Zoro first, because as much as it hurt, he figured that Zoro was probably more important to Luffy than Chopper, because Zoro was the first member, and the most precious to Luffy. Not that the others weren't important… they all were.

Maybe it was just Chopper that wasn't special.

Chopper had come to realize that Luffy's nakama being hurt was much more painful than any pain anybody could ever hope to inflict on Luffy. (Not that they would hope, because Luffy was like a magnet.)

So Chopper learned to be stronger. If he was stronger, Luffy wouldn't look hurt, or sad.

And it was a doctor's duty to heal, after all.

If he could make it so that the others weren't hurt, and only he was, it would be fine…

"Stop." Luffy's voice cut into his thoughts, and Chopper realized in horror that he had been saying all that out loud. "Just stop. Don't talk anymore."

Seeing Luffy so absolutely crushed and scared hurt Chopper and he quickly put a hoof on Luffy's knees. "What's wrong?" He demanded. "Are you feeling okay?"

Luffy swiped his arm away, his dark eyes darkening even more. "How can I feel okay!?" He demanded, fury seeping into his voice. " _Listen_ to the crap that you're spouting! What do you mean, it's okay if you get hurt if nobody else does!?"

"I…" Chopper drew back. "I'm a doctor. And I'm a monster. That's what I'm supposed to do… I…"

"That's not right!" Luffy's voice was like thunder. "You're worth everything that the other are worth, Chopper! You're my nakama!"

Ah. He had forgotten… he was also counted among Luffy's nakama. Which meant he was precious. Chopper wasn't different from the others… he was the same as them.

"Right." He agreed in a small but relieved voice and sat down on Luffy's lap. "I'm sorry."

Luffy sounded relieved. "No worries." He grinned and wrapped his arms around Chopper's, like he was trying to make sure Chopper was real and he understood that Luffy cared about him. "Now, you go to sleep."

Chopper wanted to argue, but he felt tired and… "Alright." He agreed softly.

Because Chopper favored Luffy, and he liked it when Luffy was happier, even if he was more hurt on the outside, because Chopper understood that being hurt on the inside was much worse than any scars battle could leave on your body.

And when his nakama were hurt, Luffy hurt the most.

And Chopper was Luffy's nakama, so it was all right.


End file.
